Major help needed - Detailed pictures and settings for box+amp included

[ScreamingSkulls]

Long story short, Everything is brand new. I have a 12 RE Sex that I built in a sealed box. The box was to big after I was done (1.66) so I packed the back wall with 2x4. Well after I had installed everything I had local shop try to tune the sub. They agreed it was missing the low and just had no balls. They suggested we use the same box and port it.

Re specs for min port box is 1.5@35Hz. They said we could use the same box as it is 1.66 and they ported it using 3 inch pvc tube that was 7 inches long. It was night and day but I would like to get others opinions since I have put a lot of time and effort into redoing my entire audio setup.

Here is my setup:

Truck: 05 Ford F150, all doors sound damp, roof also.

Headunit: Pioneer MVH-P8200BT (all sub mhz, gain, tremble etc etc set to 0)

Sub: 12 Re Sex DVC 2 wired to 1ohm 600RMS

Amp: Powerbass ATM 900.1D stable at 1ohm 900RMS

Amp 2: Powerbass XAX 4160FD 100x4 RMS

Rear Speakers: Powerbass L-6802x 6x8 Full-Range

Front Speakers: Polk Audio Component (older speakers but still sound good)

Power Wire: KnuKonceptz 0 gauge grounded on back side behind drivers to block, 4 gauge to both amps

Ground: KnuKonceptz 0 gauge running pass side to block, 4 gauge to both amps

RCA: KnuKonceptz Twisted 3X shielded cables running down center of truck

Current sound info: coming home last night I was listening to some slipknot and manson and after I parked I felt the center cone of the sub and it was warm.

Picture of box with measurements of port:

Picture of amp settings:

Questions:

[1] Is the box tuned as best as it can be using existing box?

[2] What type of settings should I change on the amp?

[3] They want around $300 to build a optimal 2sq ported box. Should I have a new one build?

[bassl0va]

To be bluntly honest,

[1] No, the box is pretty rubbish, the port is far to small, a pipe or two need to be added for sufficient port area. I bet it is chuffing like a chimney at the moment.

[2]get a DMM and set the gains, that should give you a better chance of not clipping because right now, it is probably clipping, depends on the HU's output voltage and the amps input sensitivity though. LPF-80hz, subsonic-around 27hz, maybe 25hz, depends on the box and just leave the last two at minimum.

[3]That is one hell of a rip-off IMO, depends on who is building it? If it is Dave the box guy then it will be worth it for sure, but if it is just some random shop, naw. You can make the current box better with some more pipe.

[moetpoppin]

take some time and read some of the shit on this website

you can build a box for the low price of some MDF and some glue and pipe

i would think that about $250 bucks of savings is worth your time and what you will learn

just my $0.02

[ScreamingSkulls]

Well I actually built that box myself but I built it based on RE website for a sealed box and the sub wouldn't move worth a shit which is why the shop I bought all my stuff from tried to port it.

Anyways I went in there yesterday and flipped a lid, mind you in the last 2 months I have spent over 4k on 2 alarms, rims, tires, speakers, amps and other little crap my wife wanted on her truck. I called RE and apparently the BS on their website is way off. Per greg in their tech department he said to build a box at 2.5 @ 35hz. Now look at their website and it's way off. I'm not sure why they would have 2 different specs for the boxes.

Back to the shop rant, I went in a flipped a lid. We settings on them building a custom box that sits on my rear seat L down to floor with sub angled and top slot port finished in side carpet that matches my interior and front carbon fiber for $200 and they took back that RE Sex and will be placing a RE 12 SXX instead. I think it's a better match for the amp being 900RMS.

I appreciate everyone's input and I will be spending the next few days reading some stuff on the site.

Thanks again.

BTW this is the specs from RE for their sex and sxx subs.

[CJ18]

I would go with what the RE tech told you, and rebuild the box. You can get the extra airspace by making the box deeper and dropping the front down to the floor. I would do something around 45sqin for the port and tune it about 35hz.

Also dont trust your local shop and installer to always know what is best. Most of what they deal with is low powered very very simple systems. You might find a few here and there that do some high powered stuff and really know what they are doing but those are rare. Just an example, before I really started getting into doing my own work I had a 0ga wiring kit installed my my local shop for a kicker 2500.1. Well they decided to run the 0 back and split it off into 4ga, which makes no sense at all for that amp. Thats just one example. Now here is a better example. I am the only person in my town with a TL and my AA dealer called me last week and said he had a guy at the show with 8 American Bass xfl 15s in an astro van, running on a Cactus 12k Elite. The guy that built it told me while I was hooking up the TL that he would be happy with a 156-158 and I just chuckled. The van peaked at 151.7 at 45hz. That is horse shit for 8 15s in a wall on that kind of power, and just goes to show what local shops are capable of doing.

In my opinion we as individual audio enthusiasts can learn and do better work from being on this forum and watching other builds and asking questions from the many very knowledgable true car audio experts that are on this site. And besides if you have the tools to do it I would much rather say that I built my own system and not someone else, that way you get what you want and you dont have anyone to blame but yourself if it doesnt sound the way you want.